Bideford 3 – 1 Mousehole

Words by Daniel Tasker

The film Groundhog Day features a melancholic Bill Murray in a world where every time he wakes up he is back at the start of the same day. It becomes a loop that he can’t break out of. Your reporter knows how Murray feels. Watching the Seagulls lose away in the cup to a team they had just beaten by three goals in the league made Murray’s dilemma feel like a walk in the park.

The statistics suggest that when you score the first goal you have a ninety percent chance of not losing and an eighty percent chance of winning but in the FA Trophy Mousehole managed to defy those odds and exit their second cup competition in just a couple of weeks.

The league game against the Robins had been a tight affair where Mousehole were lucky to be ahead at half time but ran out deserved winners. In the repeat fixture Mousehole were lucky to be only one goal down at half time and the second half again saw deserved winners, this time it was Bideford.

A bright start to the match saw Mousehole on top and it was no surprise when they took the lead. It was a beautifully worked goal. A period of sustained pressure saw the green and whites loading the box but there wasn’t much space. Eventually the ball landed at Ed Harrison’s feet on the right corner of the area, he rolled it forward to Gene Price in lots of space. Price steadied himself before delivering a hip high cross along the six-yard line. Hayden Turner flicked his foot and clipped the ball into the far side of the goal.

For the visiting fans this was a lovely moment but sadly it was as good as the day got and the joy itself lasted barely two minutes. The equaliser came in familiar fashion with the Seagulls unable to defend a set piece. On this occasion it was a long throw from our right, Bideford won the first touch and it fell to their man on the edge of the box. He was facing away from goal but managed to swivel and strike perfectly in to the top corner. It was a great finish but the ball shouldn’t have reached him.

Bideford took the lead less than ten minutes later. When a threatening Mousehole attack ended due to a sloppy offside concession the home keeper was unimpeded when sending a searching ball forward. Some really nice work by the reds on the edge of the box bamboozled a back tracking defence and when the ball was relayed to their space-rich centre forward he only needed one touch to move the ball out of his feet before planting it past Ollie Chenoweth.

The rest of the half was about damage limitation and a desperate attempt to keep the difference to just one goal. That Mousehole managed this, playing into a very strong wind was a victory of sorts and the general feeling was that the second half would see the visitors come on strong and snatch the tie.

Those feelings were blown away by a determined home defence who managed to stifle every effort made by Mousehole and restrict them to just two shots in the second half. The first of those, had it gone in, would have been a momentum shifter. Liam Prynn was set free for a one on one, the sort of chance that the strawberry-haired poacher usually gobbles up but here the keeper advanced quickly and smothered the effort. 

With time running out Mousehole were caught out by another set-piece, this time a corner, although strictly speaking it wasn’t directly from it. The corner itself was cleared but not far enough and the ball was recycled to the Bideford left wing. He sent in a well-angled cross which was turned home by a centre forward in too much space.

With ten minutes to go Mousehole suddenly awoke and created two great chances but neither was taken and the visiting fans were left to memories of great opening ten minutes.  

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Mousehole AFC are delighted to announce the launch of a new initiative this autumn designed to strengthen links between the club’s first team and the local community.

As part of the scheme, all youth players from the club’s eight youth teams will be offered a free season ticket for the 2025/26 Southern League campaign. Each youth player will also be entitled to bring along one accompanying adult free of charge, ensuring that families can enjoy first team football together at Interiora Trungle Parc.

The offer is not limited to existing youth players. Local schools will also be invited to take part, giving even more young people and their families the chance to experience the excitement of live football at one of Cornwall’s leading clubs.

Club Secretary Daniel Tasker said:

“We are extremely excited about this initiative. It is something the club have talked about for a while and we’ve seen how other clubs around the country have flourished as a result of this sort of offer. The youth are vital to our club both in terms of players coming through the ranks and as fans.

Our recent Family Day showed how great it is to get a good crowd in, enjoying the game together. We had all ages from six months to ninety years. We want to be a family club for all the community, and this is a big step towards that.”

The scheme reflects Mousehole AFC’s ongoing commitment to creating a welcoming, family-friendly environment at Interiora Trungle Parc while also inspiring the next generation of players and supporters. With the excitement of Southern League football on display, the club hopes to see record numbers of local families in the stands this season.

The fixtures’ computer had thrown up a double-double header for the Seagulls starting with the matches against Brixham and now followed up by a similar pairing with Bideford. Against Brixham we won in the league and lost in the FA Cup. Here we started with a win in the league and we await the fixture in the FA Trophy. The first half of the repeat was an exact repeat in the scoreline with a three-goal victory and a clean sheet but it could have been very different.

The first half saw Mousehole dominate possession but the visitors were ahead on almost every other metric. They had more chances, and their chances were better. They should have taken the lead when their centre forward was sent through for a one on one with Ollie Chenoweth. Against almost every keeper in the Southern League this would have been a goal but our last line of defence is more of a wall than that. He hurtled out, smothered the shot and held on to the ball. This was as good as goal and was celebrated as such in the main stand.

A few minutes later Mousehole took the lead. Charlie Davis is the set piece coach and he would have been purring to see one of his training ground moves pulled off to perfection. As Hayden Turner readied himself to take a wide free kick on the left, near the corner flag, the plus six footers were lined up at the far post but that was not the plan. Jack Calver was lurking unmarked in the ‘D’ and he received a short pass from the hitman. His first touch, a deft one, took him past the onrushing defender; his second touch, a thunderbolt, left the ball in the back of the net.

It was more than Mousehole deserved but football is a cruel game and just deserts are not always provided and so it was that the Bideford eleven left the field at half time feeling somewhat aggrieved to be behind. The home dressing room was not just relieved to be ahead,they were grateful not to be behind.

The second goal in a game is often vital and it proved to be so again here. The early chances in the second half again fell to Bideford but it was Mousehole who actually scored. It didn’t come till fifteen minutes from the end when nerves were rather frayed but it allowed the home fans to start relaxing and for finger nails to be saved from further chewing.

It followed a sustained period of pressure after a corner. Bideford could not clear their lines and the ball eventually fell to the feet of Captain Calver. He jinked his way into the box and, rather than unleashing another shot, bobbled the ball to the far post where poacher extraordinaire Tim Nixon pounced to slide the ball home. Game done and dusted but there was still time for three more moments to thrill the bumper Bank Holiday crowd.

Just two minutes later Tallan Mitchell was released into space thanks to a fine through ball from Player of the Match William Oduwa. Mitchell turned his man and sprinted towards the bye-line. He had time and space to look up and pick out Liam Prynn, hovering eight yards out. The Prynnster took one touch to steady himself before belting in the third.

Shortly afterwards the crowd was delighted to see the return of one of Cornish football’s favourite sons; Mark Goldsworthy. Almost nine months after his last appearance and strengthened by a bionic shoulder, Goldie took up his place at the top of the pitch. Within moments he was through on goal and, of course, scored. Sadly, the linesman flagged for offside but it was a moment to bring joy to all to see the golden-haired striker back in white and green.

The final almost-magic moment of a great day came when Hayden Turner won possession just inside his own half. He looked up and saw the Bideford keeper in no-person’s land. One swing of his mighty right boot sent the ball flying over the stricken keeper and into the royal blue sky. The crowd fell silent as time stood still, the ball travelling along a perfect parabola towards goal. No one dared breathe as it fell out of the sky destined for a goal of the season contender…but no. The hitman was millimetres off with his calculations and the ball smashed against the bar and into the grateful hands of the red-faced net guardian.

Another home win, another clean sheet, all celebrated on the terrazzo with a few pints of the cold stuff from our very own beer lorry. A perfect day in the last throws of the Cornish summer. 

Mousehole AFC is the most westerly football clubintheEnglish National League system. Over the past few years The Seagulls have been making waves in Cornish football, with a rapid rise through the leagues to their current place in the prestigious Southern League.

With thriving teams and growing local support, the club offers sponsors a unique
chance to connect with the community, raise their profile, and be part of an
exciting journey as we continue to grow on and off the pitch.

You can download our sponsorship brochure here:

A week is a long time in politics so they say. Five days can be a lifetime in football. Where Mousehole were dominant on Tuesday night they were meek here, where they’d been energetic before they were diffident this afternoon. Lacklustre is an apt word to describe the first half hour and whilst there was a stirring comeback ultimately, they got what they deserved. 

Under a vibrant sun the visitors began in beach football mode. Slow of movement, hesitant of thought. The flip flops were on show. Was it over confidence after beating the same opponents on Tuesday or simply the ghost of poor away form that has dogged the white and greens for two seasons? 

Whatever the reason, with ten minutes of the first half left they already looked to be out of the cup at two nil down. The goals were sloppily conceded and greedily taken. Both the result of another consistent failing; defending set pieces. 

The first came from a corner. Swung in and not cleared in spite of several chances to do so, the melee ended with a Brixham body hitting the floor and the referee pointing to the spot. The ensuing penalty was dispatched with ease. 

Ten minutes later a long throw from the right led to a game of head tennis which Brixham won with a looped effort that went in at the far post.

It felt like game over but suddenly the Seagulls awoke, maybe realising they were plunging to earth. Chances developed, probably the best being a Harrison drive that just went over. Not long after, a Massey cross was handled in the box and Turner fired the penalty home. There was still time for Mousehole to hit the bar as Brixham welcomed half time like a long-lost friend. 

Mousehole started the second half like they’d started the game on Tuesday but the equaliser wouldn’t come. Brixham were happy to absorb the pressure, staying deep and then try to attack on the break. This worked half way through the half. The keeper sent a long ball forward which no one dealt with, leaving the Brixham forward to burst free. He controlled the ball and unleashed a Geoff Hurst-like rocket which went in off the underside of the bar. Game over?

No.

Mousehole showed proper fighting spirit and suddenly they were back in it. Two goals in less than three minutes and in an instant everyone was thinking about a replay. 

The goals were very similar:

Starting with Jack Calver coming out of defence, the ball was played forward and picked up by Liam Prynn (2^nd goal) /  Tallan Mitchell (3^rdgoal), he beat a man and played it into the box for Tallan Mitchell (2^nd goal) / Jack Symons (3^rd goal). Surrounded by defenders he found space and “rolled it past the keeper” (2^nd goal) / “smashed it past the keeper” (3^rd goal).

Only one team looked like winning this game at that point and it wasn’t Brixham but win it they did. Mousehole gave away a soft free kick twenty five yards out. The resulting shot looked to be heading for the top corner until Lewis Moyle arrived to tip it round the post. From the corner, yes you’ve guessed it, more head tennis, ending with a looped headed winner. 

With only a few minutes left Mousehole pushed for another equaliser but it never looked like coming.  Dumped out the cup before the first qualifying round left a morose squad with only thoughts of what could, some would say should, have been. And so dreams of Wembley died for another year. 

Text: Daniel Tararsky

Having started the league campaign with a disappointing defeat away at Malvern The Seagulls were eager to record a home win on a balmy Tuesday evening. Coming just three days after the trip up country this was a speedy chance to make amends against newly promoted opponents. 

Mousehole started with an energy and intensity that implied they’d been asked by boss Ash to turn up the heat maps. From back to front the Seagulls upped their game from the previous run out. Fifty fifties were won all over the pitch, one to one duels almost all went to the home team.

The result of all this effort meant that most of the match was played in the Brixham half. It was, at times, like a training match of defence versus attack but Mousehole couldn’t make the break through. Chances came and went but the finishing touch was never applied. In the end it took a bit of Jack Symons trickery to unlock the door.

In his usual fashion he burst into the box, ball glued to his foot with defenders diving in to dispossess him but failing.  As often happens one of those legs eventually took the midget maestro’s feet from under him ad the penalty was rightly awarded. The culprit was dismissed somewhat harshly. 

Hayden Turner placed the ball on the spot and dispatched it calmly, sending the keeper the wrong way. 

Ten minutes later and Symons repeated the feat, tumbling under another challenge in the box. Turner again did the business, this time down the middle. Two nil at half time, having had 75% possession was probably less than deserved. 

With Brixham down to ten men the second half shaped up to be tough for the visiting team.  As it turned out the game was effectively over just before the hour. A nice corner routine ended with the ball at Liam Prynn’s feet on the edge of the box. He took a touch to steady himself then rifled the ball into the roof of the net beyond a fully stretched keeper.

From then on it was a case of how many could Mousehole score. The answer being: no more. Lots of chances were created but Brixham held firm. 

Mousehole will face better teams this season and those missed chances will be costly but against a team struggling to create this performance was enough and a good start to home league campaign. 

Next match? Brixham, FA Cup on Saturday. 

The first day of the season always arrives full of optimism and infinite possibilities. Anything can happen, there are no limits and so after six hours on the road the coach pulled into the under-renovation car park full of joy and hope. Four hours later the travelling Seagulls; players, staff and fans trudged back on with heavy hearts and a fully signed reality cheque in their back pockets.

Last season saw a thrilling last minute winner from Hayden Turner but the tale of this game was told well before the end. The first half was a tight affair with Mousehole getting into lots of good positions without being able to convert those moments into clear cut chances.

At the other end, the home side kept getting half chances from which they were more able to strike at goal. The shot count fell in their favour 9 to 2 from just forty percent possession.

The first chance of the second half fell to last season’s hero, but on this occasion the Hitman did not hit the mark and fired over. This was the match’s sliding doors moment because a few moments later Malvern took the lead. A long throw was flicked on, that flick was in turn flicked on again by an outstretched toe and Malvern had broken through. A neat pass inside found the substitute Harry Clark who had just entered the fray. His first touch was to roll the ball past a despairing Lewis Moyle dive.

Mousehole heads seemed to go down and even if they weren’t out it was pretty much all over less than ten minutes later. A melee on the edge of the box saw the ball break free. Legs were flying from all quarters and one found a Malvern ankle and down he went. Ryan Brunt sent Moyle the wrong way and the whole ground knew it was game over with twenty minutes left.

The coffin was nailed shut with ten minutes to go. Another scruffy exchange ended as too often with Malvern possession. They found a free man on the right, a marauding full back who took the pass in his stride and planted beyond the keeper.

After a promising FA Cup win last week the Seagulls had their wings clipped and fell to earth. The good news is that the next game is only a few days away. It’s a long season. Forty one games to go.

In any game but maybe especially in the first game of the season an early goal is very welcome and so it proved in this FA Cup tie, Mousehole’s first competitive game of a new term. With only four pre-season friendlies behind them and four new faces in the starting line-up there was a little trepidation about how the match would go.

Those fears disappeared after just one minute when one new boy, Max Cook, curled a cross in to the box. It eventually fell to the returning Tallan Mitchell. He surged towards goal only to be brought down by an waggling defensive leg. We’ll never know if the referee would have awarded the penalty this deserved because within sixty of his debut Liam Prynn had scored when the ball ran loose.

Chances came a plenty over the next forty four minutes but the lead refused to extend. Indeed, there were a few scares as the visitors threatened to draw level. None of their chances would have scored high on the Xg charts but they enough to remind Mousehole that this was not a friendly.

Too often it felt like the Seagulls’ build up was a little slow so that by the time the chance came the Bridgwater defence were all behind the ball squeezing the gaps. One nil up at half time was probably just about deserved but both sides knew, as it so often the case, that the next goal was vital.

The second half carried on in much the same vein as the first with Mousehole having most of the possession, about seventy percent, and most of the chances but not being able to deliver the killer blow. Bridgwater were still getting enough of a sniff of goal to keep the home fans on the edge of their seats.

With only twenty minutes left the game was still in the balance and Jake Ash had just made two changes with Hayden Black and Tim Nixon coming on for Massey and Mitchell. This change produced the extra energy needed on a hot day to push Mousehole over the line and after seventy two minutes the lead was doubled. Ed Harrison, another debutant, played the ball out to Hayden Turner on the left. He surged towards the box, cut in, and curled a shot above the keeper in to the top of the net.

Within seven more minutes the lead was doubled again with a brace from Ed Harrison to add to his assist. The came when he received the ball on the edge of the box and hammered it home beyond a despairing keeper. The final was a perfect example of simplicity combined with panache. A long ball out from Chenoweth was nodded on by Prynn to Tim Nixon. In the box, he back heeled it to Harrison who stroked it home. Five seconds from keeper at one end the back of the net at the other. Devastating.

All that was left now was for Mousehole to keep their clean sheet and as so often happens it fell to the brilliance of Ollie Chenoweth. With moments remaining a game Bridgwater put together their best move of the match and engineered a chance just a few yards out. Most keepers would have let the chance just happen but Chenoweth rushed out and blocked the shot. Still the best.

A strong start to the season and a cup run in the offing. The next round sees us away to today’s opponents meaning we play them twice in four days.

Words by Daniel Tatarsky; Photos Ed Varcoe

Buckland 0-2 Mousehole

With a depleted squad Mousehole ran out comfortable winners in a tricky friendly against a robust Buckland team.

With the heatwave gone conditions were great for the Seagulls to get more yards in their legs with just two weeks to go before the first competitive game of the season.

Chances were few and far between as both teams looked to find some rhythm but gradually Mousehole began to take control.

The deadlock was broken when the ball fell to one of Mousehole’s trialists in the box. He jinked past the keeper and smashed it into the roof of the net past two despairing defenders on the line.

Not long after, Lewis Moyle had to come sharply off his line to thwart a home attack but other than that the visiting goal faced little danger.

The second half saw the green and whites maintain control and Massey came close several times but the second wouldn’t come.

Buckland made a number of changes but it didn’t allow them to wrestle control away from the visitors.

With the ref on the verge of blowing for time Massey broke free once more and finally doubled the lead as he rolled it under the keeper.

A very solid win, a clean sheet and more match fitness gained. All in all a good day at the office.